Library-led sightseeing tours bring local stories to life

“We surprise people right off the bat, standing in front of this wonderful, family-friendly ice cream shop and saying that it used to be a brothel,” says Scott Brouwer, archivist at La Crosse (Wis.) Public Library (LCPL). The reveal is part of the Dark La Crosse Trolley Tour, done in partnership between LCPL and the La Crosse County Convention and Visitors Bureau. It began as a walking tour—a trolley was introduced in 2013 as a solution for accessibility issues—and now takes area residents and tourists on rides through the city’s seedier past.

LCPL—which also offers the by-demand Footsteps of La Crosse historic walking tour—is not the only library to recognize that sightseeing ventures are the perfect vehicle to get employees outside the building and sharing their expertise. “Theoretically we are the authority on history in this community, so who better to get a tour or information from?” says Gwendolyn Mayer, archivist at the Hudson (Ohio) Library and Historical Society (HLHS).

HLHS initially offered history tours to schools and scout groups, but because the community is “history-nuts,” says Mayer, the library now offers nine public walking tours covering topics that range from early transportation infrastructure in Hudson to the role the community played in the Underground Railroad. Each program is presented at least twice per season.

“History passes by people, and it’s not out of callousness, it’s just history,” says Elaine Kuhn, local history and genealogy services coordinator at Kenton County (Ky.) Public Library (KCPL). Kuhn shares her fascination with the people and buildings of Covington, Kentucky, with those who join her walking tour not so that they may be remembered but so they might be known.

More than a walk in the park

For most libraries offering tours, the scale is determined by how far a group can travel. The just-right length can range from one to two hours and one to two miles, for an average group size of 25 people. Most programs take place during warmer months. For example, KCPL runs tours from early June to late September, while HLHS offers them late April to early November.

Similarly, scope is determined by what libraries wish to accomplish. Exercise itself can be an aim of the walking tour, such as the “Let’s Book” program at Ligonier Valley (Pa.) Library. Director Janet Hudson created a 10-week program that runs April to July and combines reading and exercise. She takes her group on walks through town and nature reserves, and often enlists the help of both park guides and librarians who can lead book discussions. One excursion had the group talking about Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods while navigating the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve.

“The goal was to encourage people to read and walk every day for optimal mental and physical health,” says Hudson. In the first year, 55 participants read for almost 120,500 minutes and walked more than 68,100 minutes.

Some libraries provide resources for self-guided tours—the economical cousin of the docent-led tour. Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library offers a downloadable “Walking with Ramona” map for a leisurely exploration of author Beverly Cleary’s Portland neighborhood, while the library at Lake Forest (Ill.) College features on its website walking directions and sight descriptions for a local African-American history tour.

Other libraries, like LCPL, let vehicles do the legwork. While this option adds costs to an otherwise low-budget initiative, it expands the tour’s geographical reach while staying within the same timeframe. Though LCPL uses trolleys, libraries can use bicycles, Segways, hoverboards, or other options.

Getting the facts straight

Each program shares one thing in common: an emphasis on research. KCPL offers one tour route per summer because “it takes three to four months to do the research about the people and the buildings,” says Kuhn. Once KCPL decides on an area to tour, four or five librarians walk around the area and jot down notes about points of interest, such as who built or lived in the buildings. Then it’s back to the library to supplement observations with facts and write compelling scripts.

As part of her research of Hudson during the Civil War, Mayer created a spreadsheet of all the men from the town who served. When tour participants started asking specific questions like, “How many were in the heavy artillery?” or “Who fought in this battle?” she was ready with answers.

Walking tour programs are not stagnant but require a flow of conversation and room to grow. Mayer’s tour revolves around dialogue. “People have their own stories to tell,” she says. “That helps us give a better-rounded story the next time.”

A favorite story of LCPL involves the infamous gangster John Dillinger, who visited a La Crosse barbershop two days before he was killed in Chicago. Forty years later, the first line of the local barber’s own obituary was that he gave Dillinger a haircut. Brouwer says stories like these will remain in circulation, but the library frequently comes across new material that has potential to become part of the tour.

As each tour’s bank of stories grows, so does its popularity. Staff at LCPL, KCPL, and HLHS noticed early on that their programs attracted people from neighboring cities and counties.

Brouwer says the tour is a “doorway to talking to people about what the library can do” and has recommended other library services to Dark La Crosse fans. He also notes a trend of intralibrary partnership. “Because of the increased visibility of the archives [department], other departments are more comfortable approaching us and working collaboratively.”

Kiwi librarians are being asked to do more to make homeless people feel welcome. The call went out September 24–27 at the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa conference in Christchurch, where a book club for the homeless hosted at the Auckland library has been held up as an example of what others should be doing. LIANZA President Louise LaHatte would like to see libraries around the country follow Auckland’s lead.

As we mark 2017’s National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, September 24–30, libraries across the country are transforming lives through literacy services for adults and families. The correlation between literacy and income inequality, health outcomes, and rates of incarceration underscores how literacy intersects with equity, access, and inclusion. Libraries are helping to address such disparities in equity, access, and outcomes through their adult and family literacy services.

ACRL has released Academic Library Impact: Improving Practice and Essential Areas to Research. Developed for ACRL by OCLC Research, this valuable resource investigates how libraries can increase student learning and success and effectively communicate their value to higher education stakeholders. The full report is freely available for download on the ACRL website. The document recommends where more research is needed in areas critical to the higher education sector such as accreditation and academic achievement.

Edited by Susanne Caro,Government Information Essentials, published by ALA Editions, gathers the expertise of experienced government information librarians from across the country to provide real-world insight into the work, collections, and interests of this discipline. The book discusses what it’s like to be a government documents librarian, from the first day on the job through taking on a management role.

Cara Giaimo writes: “In June 1944, American troops prepared to storm the beaches of Normandy. As they lined up to board the invasion barges, each was issued something less practical than a weapon, but equally precious: a slim, postcard-sized, softcover book. These were Armed Services Editions—paperbacks specifically designed to fit in a soldier’s pockets and travel with them wherever they went. Between 1943 and 1947, the US military sent 123 million copies of over 1,000 titles to troops serving overseas.”

The National Book Foundation announced September 21 that it will award Annie Proulx with its 2017 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Proulx, author of many novels and short stories, including The Shipping News, Postcards, and “Brokeback Mountain,” is being honored for her exceptional work and significant impact on American literature. The award will be presented to Proulx by Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway, who starred in the film Brokeback Mountain.

Maren Williams writes: “Every year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom receives reports of book challenges from around the country—that is, a request from an individual or group for a book to be restricted or removed from a library or classroom. Over the years OIF has tracked the reasons cited for these challenges, and designer Tim Leong distilled the data regarding comics and graphic novels into this infographic. Read on for more information on each of the categories and challenged books.”